Microsoft allegedly waives WP licencing fee for Indian OEMs Comments

As far as I know, Indian OEM's have low margins already. This is a welcome move by Microsoft to the OEMs as it will be a win win situation for both parties. OEMs can give their customers choice over Android and a good phone at a good price is likely to boost the market share of the OS.

I always used to think that WP8 would be a more balanced platform unlike Android and iOS.

Android has too many devices, iOS too less.
Android is too open, iOS too restricted.
WP8 in the starting was balanced with just the right amount of devices almost all of which were made by a good OEM i.e. Nokia. The software side of things was the only part that needed fixing.
Now that software almost got fixed, they unbalanced the hardware side. Karbonn, Lava, Xolo, Micromax are TERRIBLE OEMs. I know because I am an Indian and I have heard the huge pile of complaints against then. They shouldn't be in the market and now they'll be making WP 8.1 phones too. Sorry MS, you are doomed to fail.

Raker, 13 Mar 2014android is not free. as OEM has to give money to M$(NOT GOOGLE). os tecnicaly WP is ONLY FREE ... moreAndroid is free, meaning ANYONE can use it. The thing that's not is using Google's apps to be preloaded with the device. That needs a license.

Eske Rahn, 13 Mar 2014Even if they paid me I would not any of the current WP-phones.
But if they started to give ... moreSeems that's what's happening to Samsung. Even paid millions, people still don't want to use them

Anonymous, 13 Mar 2014I thought Android was free as well? So whats wrong with WP being given free? Anybody knows how... moreandroid is not free. as OEM has to give money to M$(NOT GOOGLE). os tecnicaly WP is ONLY FREE Mobile OS now

007roh, 13 Mar 2014Instead of Bribing everyone they could use that money to increase there app list, make the OS ... more*their
They are already doing that for a long time... not just with every major developer team of course

007roh, 13 Mar 2014Instead of Bribing everyone they could use that money to increase there app list, make the OS ... morewhat is the problem with the app list?!? dont get it?!
And if you dont like the OS feel free to use something else....simple as that.

Anonymous, 13 Mar 2014I thought Android was free as well? So whats wrong with WP being given free? Anybody knows how... moreGenerally, it's not bad. However, it must be something othet OEMs do not really like, as they were to pay for the WP usage, while being extorted as well for using Android (patent cases). Even Nokia technically had to pay license fees for it's Windows Phone products. The difference there was that Microsoft paid more for product development and marketing, combined with an exclusiveness deal, which ended this year (which is obvious with the arrival of Nokia's first Android devices).

In the end though, giving Indian companies a 'free license' makes Microsoft look, once again, a more and more unreliable business relation.